Mumbai Indians landed in Jaipur on Friday and is in high spirits after registering a crucial win against Delhii Capitals. The win against Capitals was Mumbai's fourth in five matches and a commanding one.
Rajasthan Royals is struggling to stay alive in the tournament and the last match defeat to Kings XI Punjab was its sixth in eight matches.
Only Royal Challengers Bangalore has fared worse this IPL.
Ajinkya Rahane’s men are indeed going through a tough time.
The team is running out on time too, as it gets ready to take on the in-form Mumbai at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday.
It could, however, take heart from the fact that it is the only team that beat the three-time champion in the last five games.
Read: Every game is a final for Rajasthan, says Stokes
The over-dependence on Jos Buttler shows that most of the recognised batsmen have failed with the bat.
Sanju Samson is the only other batsman at the top of the order who has threatened to take the game away from the opposition.
But, apart from a stunning century against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Kerala dasher hasn’t made a telling impact; he has had to a miss a couple of games with injury, though.
Rahane and Steve Smith haven’t scored as many runs — and at the pace — the team wanted. In other words, the Royals need to address its batting concerns without wasting any more time.
Among the bowlers, pacer Jofra Archer and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal have stood out. But, the others need to be less generous.
And if you are going to be kind against a batting line-up that comprises Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers, the ball could often end up in the stands.
Mumbai has a sharp bowling attack too, featuring the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga and Rahul Chahar.
It is certainly not going to be easy for the Royals against one of the most balanced sides in the competition.
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